Headphoneus Supremus

Joined:
Sep 22, 2014

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After a period of listening, I realized 6N3P-E with Foton tubes is much better than WE396A with Foton tubes!
BTW, Foton tubes seems to be much better than stock 6n6p. At least a perfect matching with 6N3P-E.

500+ Head-Fier

After a period of listening, I realized 6N3P-E with Foton tubes is much better than WE396A with Foton tubes!
BTW, Foton tubes seems to be much better than stock 6n6p. At least a perfect matching with 6N3P-E.

Headphoneus Supremus

Here to report, an update of my experience with my WE396A's, after about 60 hours of listening. . . MIND BLOWN!!! These tubes have opened up from top to bottom, without any hint of harshness in the top end and they have become super quiet as well. I have never heard imaging and seperation, so well. I can visualize the performance and placement of the instruments as if I was sitting in the room. Freaking amazing listening experience, everytime I fire them up. These tubes have really taken my system to another level and I am not exaggerating at all.

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They are quite good, the Tung Sol 2C51 I rate a notch below is quite good too at a much lower price. I find the other brands GE, Bendix etc a bit harsh in the highs and bass light. The Reflektor 6N3P-E is quite good for the price, warm and detailed.

Head-Fier

After switching to the JAN-Phillips 6922 that initially were in my X-CAN V3 and finding them quite bright (they sound really good in the X-CAN though), I ordered a pair of JJ E88CC Gold, and wow, now I can really say the Valhalla 2 is a real tube amp. The JJs are warm and detailed, and I no longer listen to the "sound"; I listen to the music.

Head-Fier

I'm currently using a pair of Northern Electric 6SN7's on the gain side and really like them. With the Black Friday sales I ordered another pair for the buffer side. Not sure if I'l really hear any difference but thought I would give having quads a try. I'll post agin after they arrive.

New Head-Fier

Sorry to dredge up a thread that has been fairly quiet recently, but I was hoping someone could share some advice.

I recently bought a Valhalla 2 from you, and so far everything is working great.

However, from its first switch-on, in one of the front tubes, there is a fairly significant imbalance of the brightness from the two 'sides' of the tube.

You can see in this first photo that in the tube in the background, the right-hand 'glow' is significantly brighter than the left; it is dome-shaped and glowing more strongly than the flatter glow on the left. The tube in the foreground shows the other front tube, with both sides of the tube glowing pretty much exactly equally.

In the second photo, the tube is shown close-up, and it is very obvious there is a difference on either side.

Headphoneus Supremus

Sorry to dredge up a thread that has been fairly quiet recently, but I was hoping someone could share some advice.

I recently bought a Valhalla 2 from you, and so far everything is working great.

However, from its first switch-on, in one of the front tubes, there is a fairly significant imbalance of the brightness from the two 'sides' of the tube.

You can see in this first photo that in the tube in the background, the right-hand 'glow' is significantly brighter than the left; it is dome-shaped and glowing more strongly than the flatter glow on the left. The tube in the foreground shows the other front tube, with both sides of the tube glowing pretty much exactly equally.

In the second photo, the tube is shown close-up, and it is very obvious there is a difference on either side.

Is this normal, or is there a problem with the tube?

Many thanks for any input.

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My stock tubes were the same. Didn't notice any issue with channel balance so I assumed it was normal. If you're worried email Schiit, they're very responsive.

500+ Head-Fier

Sorry to dredge up a thread that has been fairly quiet recently, but I was hoping someone could share some advice.

I recently bought a Valhalla 2 from you, and so far everything is working great.

However, from its first switch-on, in one of the front tubes, there is a fairly significant imbalance of the brightness from the two 'sides' of the tube.

You can see in this first photo that in the tube in the background, the right-hand 'glow' is significantly brighter than the left; it is dome-shaped and glowing more strongly than the flatter glow on the left. The tube in the foreground shows the other front tube, with both sides of the tube glowing pretty much exactly equally.

In the second photo, the tube is shown close-up, and it is very obvious there is a difference on either side.

Is this normal, or is there a problem with the tube?

Many thanks for any input.

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The difference in glow is from a slight difference in placement of the cathode heater. The tubes are tested on a curve tracer by Schiit and have equal triode electrical characteristics. Don't concern yourself. You should see the differences in the way RCA tubes in my Freya light up! It does not make for a pretty collection of tubes, but they sound great and I will not part with them

New Head-Fier

The difference in glow is from a slight difference in placement of the cathode heater. The tubes are tested on a curve tracer by Schiit and have equal triode electrical characteristics. Don't concern yourself. You should see the differences in the way RCA tubes in my Freya light up! It does not make for a pretty collection of tubes, but they sound great and I will not part with them

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Thank you - as with the previous reply, I was assuming it wasn't anything major, since there are no channel imbalances or any sonic differences.